Corpus Christi officials brace for possible snow

Possible power outages, bridge and road closures have Coastal Bend ready to take action

CORPUS CHRISTI - The prospect of the fourth February snowstorm in South Texas in half a century has people talking — and city and state officials readying for the worst.

Forecasters expect that to be about an inch of sleet or snow late Thursday into Friday. But that could be enough to close bridges, overpasses and causeways.

February has brought snow to the Coastal Bend in 1958, 1960 and 1973.

The most recent snow was Christmas Eve 2004, which brought about 4 inches, closing bridges and roadways that night and a part of the next day.

On Tuesday, City traffic and street department officials made plans to have barricades and traffic cones near bridges, overpasses and elevated highways in case of closures.

Capt. Jay Vesely expects the Harbor Bridge to be the barometer for closures.

"It's so far above the water that it ices fast," Vesely said. "If the temperature drops to 30 or below and there's the slightest drizzle, it ices instantly."

Barricades will be at the foot of the bridge, and supervisors will be checking it and other overpasses every few minutes, Vesely said.

Twice in 25 years the city has had to close Crosstown Expressway and Padre Island Drive because of icy conditions, he said.

"We have drivers here who have never seen frozen roadways and don't know how to handle them," he said.

As a result, police plan to have 22 additional officers on call,

If the Harbor Bridge is closed, drivers can use the Joe Fulton Corridor, which runs U.S. Highway 181 along the north side of the Inner Harbor to Carbon Plant Road, where it connects to Interstate 37.

That will work as long as the Nueces Bay Causeway remains open, Vesely said.

The Texas Department of Transportation, which takes care of the causeway and other state roads in the area, expects to keep up with any ice, officials said.

It already has trucks loaded with ice rock, a fine gravel that offers traction and then disintegrates, spokeswoman Frances Garza said.

"People shouldn't panic," Garza said.

If the JFK Causeway, another area of concern, is closed, it could delay Friday's scheduled trash pickup for Padre Island residents, said Kim Womack, spokeswoman for the city.

"If so, collection crews will work Saturday," Womack said.

The reason for all the concern about ice and snow, comes from the 70 percent chance of precipitation Thursday night, when temperatures are expected to be in the mid-20s on the coast and colder inland.

An upper level Arctic mass, moving across South Texas overnight Thursday and into Friday morning, could change drizzle after midnight into snow, said John Metz, meteorologist with National Weather Service in Corpus Christi.

Accumulation is expected to be less than an inch along the coast to as much as 2 inches near Victoria.

A hard-freeze warning, where temperatures dip below freezing for an extended period, was in effect early this morning and is expected to continue nights and early mornings through Friday, weather officials said.

The first blast of cold weather arrived Tuesday, dropping temperatures from a high in the mid-60s early in the morning to 37 degrees by about 8 p.m.

On Wednesday morning about 5 a.m. the air temperature in Beeville was 24 degrees, Rockport was at 26, the Corpus Christi International Airport was 27 and Kingsville was 28. With a north wind range from 20-30 mph, the wind in those areas was between 10-15 degrees.

The high is expected to be in the 30s Wednesday and Thursday, but could reach 40s Friday as things warm up into the weekend.

Prepare for outages

Have flashlights and portable radios available.

Stay away from downed power lines, report them to AEP Texas at 1-866-223-8508.